The Past Is the Present
by Artemis Tiggular
Summary: This is my sequel to the musical. Elphaba and Fiyero have a daughter named Artemis who runs away to the Emerald City to figure out her parents' pasts. Pairings: Bentemis/Katery you'll figure it out! ;
1. A Simple Life

**Hey. This is my second time writing on Fan Fiction so please don't be too harsh. Please? My friend and I make up stories like this one, but we've never written them down before. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: It should be obvious that I don't own Wicked, but if it isn't, then… I don't. Yeah. ON WITH THE STORY!!!:**

Elphaba awoke to find herself staring at the bright light of the autumn morning through the window. She sleepily blinked her dark brown eyes and looked around. Everything was quiet; a little too quiet. _Oh right, _She remembered. _Fiyero's hunting today and Artemis is probably sleeping in. _She rolled her eyes as she thought of her teenage daughter draped over a bed that was half her size, sleeping like a baby.

She slowly climbed out of bed onto the hardwood floor of the bedroom. As she walked into the living room (which also doubled as a kitchen since it had the fire), she was amazed to see Artemis hovered over a pot that was perched over the fire.

"Wow! I wasn't expecting you to be up yet!" Elphaba said.

"Dad came in and woke me up because he thought I had lessons today, and I told him that I didn't, but he still suggested that I cook breakfast," Artemis replied, clearly annoyed.

"Well, since you're up already, why don't we have a lesson?" Elphaba commented.

"NO!!! Just because I'm up earlier than usual doesn't mean that you have to-"Artemis started.

"I'm just kidding! You know, I might be your mother, but I'm not that cruel!" Elphaba gave a warm, teasing smile and a quick wink, which made her daughter, let out a soft chuckle.

Lessons for Artemis were the worst thing she had to do as a child. They consisted of 2 hours for each subject (math, science, history, etc.), but the whole time was spent with her mother.

Artemis and Elphaba have a special bond. They were more like best friends than mother and daughter. Most girls Artemis's age wanted nothing to do with their parents, but her parents are the only people she knew. At times they may have seemed over-protective and strange, but she knew that it's only because they're her parents, and that's what parents do.

Elphaba and Fiyero had settled in a little cottage on the outskirts of Oz after they ran away. Not long after Fiyero had built the house, Elphaba became pregnant with Artemis. Artemis was born on October 24 in the same little house. Fiyero, being the father and husband, hunted and literally put food on the table. Elphaba, being the wife and mother, kept the house tidy and cooked. They had very simple lives, but they were happy.

Artemis had noted that there was not one day when her parents didn't kiss or comfort each other or show some sign of affection. She knew her parents were in love, and they always would be. Sometimes she wondered, once she got married, if she would love her husband that much, but then she remembered that she didn't know anyone else other than her parents. Every once in a while, she had an urge of curiosity and wished she could see what else was beyond the woods that they lived near. Why were they so far from civilization? Where did her parents come from? But the curiosity was quickly dispersed.

"So where's Dad?" she asked her mother.

"He's out hunting," Elphaba responded.

"Oh yeah. Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Where did you and Dad come from?" Artemis asked, having another urge of curiosity.

"Artemis, we've talked about this," Elphaba began.

"I know, but you never tell me! You always say you'll tell me when I'm older. I'm seventeen years old! I think I'm old enough now!" Artemis blurted out.

"Well…" Elphaba started as she bit her lip.

"Hey! What smells good?" Fiyero said as he walked inside.

"Hey Dad," Artemis said in an annoyed voice, still wanting to know the answer to her question, but she knew she wouldn't get one.

"Hi, Sweetie," Elphaba said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

'Day 6,238 and they're still going.' Artemis thought to herself.

Fiyero was carrying a deer on his back and Elphaba took it to the fire. Most people would have thought it gruesome, but it was such a regular chore that no one ever commented on it, not even Artemis.

"So did you sleep well, Pumpkin?" Fiyero asked Artemis.

"I was fine until you woke me up," she replied coldly.

Fiyero just laughed softly and started polishing his gun. He sat down in his armchair, which was no doubt his because he would yell at whoever sat in it, even Elphaba, and it smelled so bad and was so dirty from sweat and blood from hunting, that no one even wanted to sit in it. Artemis didn't even think it looked that comfortable, but her father loved it, so she just let him be.

There had been a long, awkward silence since Fiyero sat down, and he finally noticed it.

"Will somebody say something???" he yelled. Artemis decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try her question again. It couldn't hurt to try, could it?

"Dad? Where did you and Mom come from?"

"Artemis we've talked about this a billion times,"

"I know but I'm seventeen years old and I'm old enough to know now!"

"Fiyero, let's just tell her! She's been waiting for so many years to know! We can't keep it from her forever," Elphaba butted in.

There was a long pause. "Alright." he finally agreed.

**Okay if the beginning of the story sounded familiar, it was because I used it in Through Our Eyes. I know I have no imagination, but I had a serious case of writer's block for a beginning for this. Please review!!! Was it horrible? Was it amazing? I can't tell unless you people REVIEW!!!!!**


	2. The Fake Story

**Hello again! It's the moment you've all been waiting for!!! (I hope). Yay! The second chapter! Woohoo! I hope you guys like it! Please review!**

**Oh and speaking of reviews I'd like to thank witch-of-the-west9482 for being THE ONLY ONE so far to review my story! I know other people will later but they got here first.**

**Disclaimer: I don't feel like writing it again, so just look at the beginning of Chapter One. Okay, here we go!**

"Your mother and I," Fiyero started. "Used to live in Oz. I was the Prince of the Arjiki tribe in the Vinkus, and she was the daughter of the governor of Munchkinland."

"Wait?" Artemis interrupted. "You were a PRINCE???"

"Hey you wanted to know!" Fiyero snapped back.

"Yeah! I want to know the truth! Not some fake lies that you make up off the top of your head!"

"ARTEMIS!!! YOU WANTED TO KNOW WHERE WE CAME FROM, SO WE'RE TELLING YOU!!!" Elphaba screamed at her daughter in the voice she only used when she really meant something.

Artemis knew her mother was about to explode, so she slumped back down into the chair she was sitting in. Elphaba took a deep breath and continued the story.

"When we were both 17 or 18, we were sent to Shiz University. I was forced to because I had to take care of my younger sister, Nessarose." she explained.

"You had a sister?" Artemis asked with shock.

"Yes I did…" Elphaba said quietly with burning tears starting to form in her eyes and her voice cracking on the last word.

Fiyero decided to pick up where his wife left off. "I was forced to go because I was flunking out of every college my parents put me in. They thought that maybe Shiz could whip me into shape, and it sort of did." he said as he looked at Elphaba with melancholy in his eyes. Artemis noticed this and made an assumption.

"So let me guess: you two meet, fall in love, get married, and for some strange reason, run away from Oz?" she thought she had the whole story in the bag.

"No, not really," Elphaba replied. She saw the smirk on Artemis's face dissolve into a pout. "It's actually a lot more complicated than that."

It almost took the entire day for them to make up a happier version of their life to tell their daughter. They knew they were lying to her, but she couldn't know the truth, how her mother was public enemy number one in Oz until she staged her death. How her father used to be a scarecrow until Elphaba found an ancient spell to change him back right before Artemis was born. And she especially couldn't know about Glinda. No, she couldn't know any of that. The fake story went something like this:

_Once we got to Shiz, we saw each other and it was love at first sight. We were together every day until your mother got an important message from the Wizard of Oz, asking her to become his Grand Vizier. Of course she accepted, but she left me at Shiz for the last 3 years of college. The next time we saw each other, she was pretty much the most powerful witch in Oz and I was to become Captain of the Guard for the Wizard. We were both extremely happy and we got married as soon as I became Captain of the Guard. But there was a group of rebels called the Resistance who were constantly trying to overthrow whoever was in charge. They almost got a hold of your mother and me, but we escaped and realized that Oz wasn't safe for us anymore because the Resistance were growing stronger every second. So we ran until we found this cottage on the outskirts of Oz and we settled down, had you, and lived happily since then._

The story tore at Elphaba's soul with every lie that was spoken. How could she pretend that she worked for the Wizard, the most vile, despicable man she had ever had the misfortune to know? It tore at Fiyero's soul just the same; the thought of still having a life in the Emerald City for some reason gave him shivers, but why, he had no clue

"Wow. Okay now I see why you guys kept that a secret for so long." Artemis replied once the story was done. "Hey! Do you think if we went back to the Emerald City, it would be safer and we could live there?"

Both of her parents' eyes got big. "NO!!!" they both said at the same time.

"Why not?" Artemis asked, grumpy that they seemed to hate the idea.

"Well, it's complicated," Elphaba answered nervously.

"Ugh! Everything's complicated with you guys! Why don't you just tell me?"

"You know it's getting late," Fiyero said as he looked out the window at the moon rising up. "You should be going to bed, Pumpkin."

"… Fine. But I will figure out what's up! There's something missing from that story, something that you're not telling me." Artemis warned. Elphaba and Fiyero both looked at each other nervously.

-----------------------------------

_I'm gonna figure out the real story,_ Artemis thought to herself as she walked to her room. _I mean, what's so bad about going to the Emerald? Why can't we go? I've always wanted to see the Emerald City. _And then, it hit her. Why not go to the Emerald City by herself? She was seventeen! She could take care of herself!

Almost immediately as she thought it, she was already gathering her things into her bag. The excitement inside of her built up as she put the last necessities into the bag. _Wait! _She thought. _I got to let Mom and Dad know where I'm going! I'll just write them a note…_ She took out a piece of paper and a pen and started to write.

_There, done!_ she thought as she signed her name on the note. She grabbed her jacket and her favorite picture of her parents and quietly snuck out her bedroom window. It was a crisp autumn night. She looked in the direction of the Ozian border line. _Here we go…_

**Hooray! I hope you liked it! Arguments are so much fun to write. ********. Please review!!! I love reading reviews! They make me happy. And like I said, I can't tell if my stories are any good unless you guys REVIEW!!!!!! **


	3. Follow The Dirt Road

**Hellos! Welcome to the third chapter of the Past is the Present! (Oh, Oz-forsaken, people! I know it's a terrible title, but I couldn't think of a different one. If you have any suggestions PLEEZ tell me!) I know you guys have been dying to know what happens next, so I put it up. Aren't I nice? Haha. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: see chapter 1**

Fiyero's sleep was disturbed by the most blood-curdling scream he had ever heard in his life. He leaped out of bed and sprinted to Artemis's room, where the scream was obviously coming from. _Oh, Oz, is she okay? _he thought. But his daughter wasn't in the room. Instead, his wife was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a piece of paper with a trembling hand.

"What's going on? Where's Artemis?" he asked in a panic.

"Sh-she's gone." Elphaba said as tears slowly scarred her face.

"What do you mean 'gone'?" he questioned, starting to panic even more.

Elphaba just handed him the piece of paper. On it, in neat cursive hand-writing, was this note:

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I've decided to figure out the _real_ story for myself. I know you're both hiding something from me and I'm going to figure out what. I'm going to Oz to find out where you're from. Don't try and find me because you won't be able to. I'll be home before you know it!_

_Your loving daughter,_

_Artemis_

Fiyero read the letter over and over again, but he couldn't comprehend it. His daughter couldn't run away! He wanted to march out the door, catch up with her, and send her right back home. But he knew that she was long gone now. She could be anywhere in Oz!

"What do we do now?" Elphaba asked when she had finally stopped sobbing.

"All we can do now is wait," he answered. He took her in his arms and held her there. Elphaba let the stinging tears stream down her face.

"You know you're going to burn your entire face if you keep crying like this," Fiyero mentioned, heart-broken.

"I don't care!" she sobbed. "I just want my baby back!"

--------------------------------

Artemis stuck her hands in her pockets as she meandered down the dirt road. She had been walking down that road since about seven that morning. She looked up and saw the sun high in the sky. _I should probably stop for lunch_ she thought.

She sat down under the shade of a large tree. She took out a sandwich that she had packed the night before. As she ate, she noticed a little green speck on the horizon. She looked closer at it and realized that it was the City. The Emerald City! She had made it! She was in Oz!

Just as she realized it, she heard an old, crackly voice. "Hey, you over there!" the voice said. Artemis frantically looked around and saw an old man across the road leaning on a fence.

"Now where are you headed to, young lady?" the man said.

"Um, I'm going to the Emerald City," she responded. This was the first person she had ever spoken to other than her parents!

"THE EMERALD CITY???" the old man shouted in shock. "Now why on Earth would you want to go to that dirty old town?"

"Well, I want to know where my parents are from, and I thought the Emerald City would be a good place to start," she explained.

"Well, you know, I've been 'round these parts for a while now. Maybe I would know 'em," he suggested. "What are their names?"

"Um, Fiyero and Elphaba Tiggular," The man's face became as if he had seen a ghost, but then was jolly again.

"Ha! Oh, now you think you can pull my arm? Now I've known a lot of Fiyero's, but there's only one gal that I know of named Elphaba!" he exclaimed.

"Who?"

The man gestured for her to come closer, as if he was about to tell her a secret. He looked around to see if anyone else was around, which of course there wasn't. He finally spoke, "…the Witch!" and he looked around again.

"Witch?"

"You heard right! A wicked little devil she was, too! Ah, but the Wizard got a hold of her, and now, she ain't 'round here no more!" he said with twisted grin.

"What did she do that made her so bad?" Artemis asked, now intrigued in his story.

"Little lady, you've gotta get yer keister down to that there city if you wanna know!" he said as he started to walk away.

"Thank you!" she yelled at the last minute, right as he was out of hearing range. She started her trek down the dirt road again. _Witch? I know Mom's a witch, but everyone loved her! Right? _she thought.

Before she knew it, she was at the gates of the Emerald City.

**Sorry it was short again. I'm trying to divide it as best I can! Did you like it? I can't guess, you know! Review!!! Go on! The button is calling to you! It knows you want to review!!! ;D**


	4. At The Gates

**Hey hey!!! Here comes a flashback moment where Artemis discovers an ancient art. Sweet. I know, right? I'm really sorry it took me so long to put this one up! :( But still have fun reading it. Review pweez!!! ;D**

**Disclaimer: see chapter 1**

Artemis gazed up at the towering gates of the Emerald City. The green lights illuminated off the walls of the gem-like fortress. As she moved closer to the humongous double-doors, she noticed that there were real emeralds encrusted into the walls.

"Whoa! This is the real deal, isn't it?" she thought out loud. She quietly tapped on the doors, and almost immediately she heard a man's voice say, "Read the sign!"

There was a small sign hanging on one of the huge, emerald encrusted handles. _'Please ring doorbell' _she read to herself. _Oh._

She pulled the long, green cord that was attached to a bell at the top of the door. A man with a red beard and mustache opened a small window in the door.

"What do you want?" he grumbled at her. He had a uniform and glasses that were as green as the city itself, but the glasses seemed to be scratched and fogged up.

"Um, I just want to get into the city," she said quietly.

"And why should I let you?" he snapped back. She flinched at the tone of his voice, not used to people besides her parents yelling at her. He seemed to tell that she was becoming frightened… or annoyed. He couldn't really tell which, but he lowered his voice anyways.

"Oh, I'm sorry I seem so grumpy. It's these darn glasses! I can't see an Oz forsaken thing!" he grumbled.

"Why don't you get some new ones?" Artemis suggested.

"Ha!" he chuckled. "New glasses? On a guard's salary? Oh, now that's a good one! You're quite amusing, do you know that?"

She smiled softly, not knowing that she had just made a joke. _Maybe I can get along with these people_, she thought.

The guard, by now, was laughing so hard that his glasses were becoming even more fogged up.

"Oh, Sweet Lurine!" he yelled in frustration. He yanked them off of his face and began wiping them off with the bottom of his jacket.

Artemis was finally able to get a closer look at him. He was relatively tall with beady brown eyes and flaming red hair. He had a mustache and a beard which he seemed to not want because all that was left of them was stubble. In all, he couldn't have been anymore than thirty.

The guard, in turn, was able to get a closer look at her. He almost dropped his glasses when he was the beautiful angel standing before him. She had very long, jet black and piercing dark brown eyes. Her face was perfect, but for a second, he thought she had a sort of greenish tint to her skin, but he dismissed quickly, thinking it was just the lights of the city behind him. In all, he thought she couldn't have been any older than a teenager, but she had a sense about her that made her seem like an adult.

Artemis began to notice the guard staring at her like an idiot. Just as she was about to ask what he was looking at, she had an epiphany. Or was it a flashback? It couldn't have been because it seemed like her mother was her age. But she also somehow remembered it. Whatever it was, it gave her a brilliant idea:

"_Okay Elphie. This is it!" a bubbly blonde whispered to Elphaba. They were sitting at a table outside on some sort of campus._

"_Oh, do I have to?" Elphaba complained._

"_Yes! If you want to be popular, you need to know how to do these kinds of things! Okay, see that guy over there?" the blonde pointed to a fresh freshman sitting at another table by himself._

"_Galinda this isn't going to work."_

"_Yes it will, Elphie! He's a freshman! An easy target! Now remember what we practiced, and go get him!"_ _Galinda gave her a good, hard shove in his direction. Elphaba grumbled, but kept walking towards the unsuspecting boy._

"_Is this seat taken?" she asked him in her most seductive voice. He looked up at her and shook his head nervously._

_Elphaba gracefully sat down as close to him as possible without sitting in his lap. She could see he was starting to sweat, which is exactly what Galinda wanted to happen. _I might as well get this over with, _Elphaba thought._

"_So how do you like it here at Shiz?" she asked still in her very much seductive voice._

_He swallowed as he looked at her and said, "Um, yeah, I mean, sort of, I mean sure…"_

_She could tell this would be over quickly if she did it right. She slowly moved her hand towards his as he stuttered. The second she touched him, he became extremely tense, but then surprisingly calm._

Why is he so calm?_ she asked herself in panic. Things weren't going the way she had planned._

_Just then, she noticed that something was different. _Where did that guy go?_ she thought. He wasn't there! She looked around the campus green, but there was no sign of that poor little freshman._

_Suddenly, she heard someone mumbling. She looked down on the ground on the other side of the table. Sure enough, there he was, out cold from what Galinda would say as too much "flirtation"._

_Elphaba turned around to face Galinda who was smiling ear to ear._

"_Come here! Come here!" she mouthed and waved a perfectly manicured hand toward herself._

_Elphaba awkwardly stood up and quickly walked back to the table. She was blushing furiously now, amazed that Galinda's guidance actually worked!_

"_I told you it would work!!! Now about your hair…"_

Artemis's "flashback" trailed off there.

_Brilliant!_ she thought. _Could I really flirt my way into the City? _She didn't really care if it worked or not, but it couldn't hurt to try right?

With all of her newfound courage and knowledge, she swiftly leaned into the little window in the door. This caught the guard by surprise, causing him to sweat. A lot.

"So, how do like being a guard?" she asked in her best imitation of her mother's "seductive" voice. She could tell it was working because the guard started to stutter:

"Uh, sort of, I mean, yeah I mean sure…"

"Do you let anybody in?"

"No, I mean no, sometimes, I mean…"

"You think you could let me in?" Artemis said with a sneaky smile and a quick wink.

"Uh… no I'm not sure I'm allowed…"

"Please?" she pleaded as she moved closer and closer to his face. He seemed to have stopped breathing because he was starting to turn red.

"Uhhhh, um. I-I guess I could just this one time…" he finally agreed once she was about three inches from him.

He took out a giant key and opened the doors. Once she stepped inside, Artemis was almost blinded by the pure brilliance of the lights. It enveloped her, giving her goose bumps from the magnificence of the City. But then, she remembered the guard.

"Thanks," she whispered and lightly tapped him on the nose. He started to shiver at her touch, but then became still and composed. Artemis knew what was coming. He collapsed brusquely in front of her.

She could almost see that bubbly blonde smiling ear to ear at her. _Yeah. I definitely have Mom's charm_, she thought.

She took a deep breath and started walking, beginning her journey through the Emerald City.

**Okay. I know that one stunk. But still review if you think it had just a little tiny bit of potential!!! Please!!!!!**


	5. And Into the City

**Hey peoples of fanfiction! Sorry I kept you guys waiting so long for this one, but I wasn't really sure how to put this chapter into words, so if some part sounds weird, then I'm sorry that I was verbally challenged for that moment. In this one, Artemis has **_**yet another**_** flashback thingy. Sorry if you don't like them, but I could help it! And there is a new character! Bobby is supposed to be Avaric's son (hence his pervertedness). So I hope that clears up most of the confusion in this chapter. If something else confuses you, just ask me in a review or PM. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: see chapter 1**

The emerald lights blinded her as she sauntered down the gleaming street. She was hypnotized, entranced by the City's brilliance.

_Wow! _Artemis thought. _This is incredible! _She passed by shops with magnificent, sparkling dresses shining in the windows. It was sort of strange how everyone was wearing a suit or a gown with some shade of green, but she didn't really care. It all seemed so… Ozmopoitan!

But as she walked deeper and deeper into the City, the lights grew dimmer, and there were less people on the streets. Every so often, someone in a black, hooded sweatshirt would come sprinting down the street, carrying something in a brown paper bag.

* * *

He couldn't help it any longer. He and his friends had been watching her for the past five minutes, whistling and talking amongst themselves. They had been planning on mugging that pathetic little munchkin down the road, but this was much more interesting. How could they resist staring at this gorgeous angel in front of them? But Bobby had to have her all to himself. He was sure that if he heard her voice, it would be just as enchanting and beautiful as her perfect face. Just imagining what it would be like to hold her slim figure in his too-muscular arms gave him goosebumps. Before he knew what he was doing, he was swiftly walking after Artemis down the dimly-lit street.

She could hear the pattering of footsteps behind her, but decided to ignore them. But when she finally turned around, she was a huge, muscular young man rushing toward her. She froze in panic as he came closer and closer, but then suddenly stopping to be about six inches away from her face.

"Hey, baby," he tried to say smoothly. He figured that maybe his father's "charm" would be passed down to him. After all, his father was Avaric! Who could beat him in charm?

"Um, hi," she answered, still very much freaked out by the muscle man in front of her. When she tried to walk away, he grabbed her arm.

"Hey, come on, now. Don't be like that," he said, slowly moving closer to her. Artemis became even more panicked now. This had never happened to her before! What was she supposed to do? She thought about trying to run from him again, but she knew he could catch her, and he didn't seem like the king of guy who would take "no" for an answer. But then she had yet another flashback epiphany thing:

_It was starting to grow dark on the Shiz campus. Elphaba and Galinda were on their way to the café to meet some friends. Elphaba was amazed that they would actually hang out with her because they were all Galinda and Fiyero's friends. There was her and Galinda of course, Fiyero, sometimes Nessa, Boq, Crope, Tibbet, but worst of all, was Avaric, not to say that any of them were bad… except Av._

_Avaric was the biggest perverted jerk on campus, possibly in all of Oz. Once, he had a total of 927 "girlfriends" in one year. Most of them were just one-night-stands, but everyone preferred the term girlfriend because it actually gave Av a hint of innocence._

_As they entered the café, the strong scent of mochas and cappuccinos swirled in the air. Elphaba's heart leapt when she laid eyes on Fiyero, then sank when she was Avaric_

"_Hey! Look! It's my little green grass girl!" Av said a twisted grin. "What's up, artichoke?"_

_Elphaba just rolled her eyes, but Fiyero was already getting fed up, as it usually takes him at least half an hour before he lashes out at Av, but he happened to be in a very grouchy mood that night._

"_Will you just leave her alone, Av? Is it possible for you to go for five minutes without insulting her in some way???"_

"_Sheesh, Prettyboy, give it a rest!" Av responded defiantly. "Besides, she knows I'm just kidding. Right?" he winked at Elphaba in a way that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up._

_As the night went on, everyone was getting really fed up with Av. He would whistle at girls passing and make nasty comments, but most of all, insult/flirt with Elphaba._

"_Hey, I was just wondering: were you born like that or do you just really like broccoli?" he managed to get out after snickering at his other jokes. But that just ticked Fiyero off again._

"_Av!!! Will you shut up?!? Can we all just drink our coffee in peace???"_

_Av just smirked. "Why do you always defend her?" he asked while looking at Elphaba. She was trying to ignore his nasty comments without blushing with embarrassment. But she had to hear Fiyero's answer. After all he was the man who she had fallen in love with the moment she was him. But he didn't feel the same way. How could he? He was Fiyero Tiggular, the Arjiki prince, the most eligible bachelor in Oz. She was just the nerdy green girl. But whatever his answer was, no matter what, would just make her heart throb with even more love for him than he could ever imagine. But then it came:_

_Av had been looking at her in confusion, but suddenly his face lit up. It twisted from a look of enlightenment to a perverted grin._

"_Ohhhhh," he said, thinking of the apparently obvious answer. "Because she's hot!"_

_Everyone's jaw hit the floor. Boq was the first to recover._

"_Wh-what did you say?" he asked in a trance-like voice. Boq was scared by anything that was said that wasn't nice or funny._

_Av walked around the table to Elphaba's seat. He leaned over to put his face about six inches from hers._

"_Yeah, you heard me," he said as he looked her up and down. It even surprised him how beautiful she was, well at least behind her skin._

"_Ha! Maybe Fiyero wants her!" he kept teasing. "After all, she is pretty sexy, don't ya think?"_

_When he said that, the whole table turned into a madhouse. Mostly of Crope, Tibbet, and Nessa screaming, "AV!!! SHUT UP!!!" Fiyero was starting to turn dark red, Galinda half smiled nervously at the mere thought of Fiyero thinking that _Elphaba, _of all people, was hot!!! Elphaba was starting to shrink down into her chair, wishing that she could crawl under a rock or something, and Boq was making a strange, quiet, nervous noise out of fear, as he was afraid of everything._

_Av decided that he had had his fun. "Hahahahaha!!!" he sneered. "Alright! Alright! I'm done! … But I'm not sure Fiyero is! Haha!"_

_Elphaba hadn't realized that Fiyero looked like a hot tamale. He was growing redder with every word that Av said. She couldn't tell if it was out of anger or embarrassment._

_But Fiyero couldn't take it anymore. He leapt out of his seat, grabbed Av by the collar of his shirt, and gave him a good, hard sock in the nose. Av stumbled down to the ground and clenched his bloody nose. Fiyero ran over to him and kicked him hard in the stomach._

"_Fiyero, stop it!!!" Elphaba suddenly screamed. She ran to them and tried to pull Fiyero off of him._

_Once Fiyero had gotten up, Elphaba was about as mad as he was. "AV, YOU IDIOT!!!"_

"_Wh-what did I do?" Av asked weakly with nose still bleeding._

"_THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD JUST KEPT YOUR MOUTH SHUT!!!!"_

"_Fine! I'll just go!" he said as he half crawled and half limped out of the door…_

Artemis was quite frustrated after that. _What??? _she thought. _Aren't these flashback things supposed to help me??? That was absolutely useless!!!_

Bobby was still inching toward her. She thought about the flashback quickly and did the one thing she remembered.

She mustered all the force she possessed in her slim yet sturdy body and swung her kneeinto his crotch. Bobby let out a Boq-like yelp and doubled over with pain. Artemis thanked Lurine that she still managed to inherit some strength from Fiyero and high-tailed out of there.

As she ran, she could hear yelling, then footsteps of someone sprinting after her. She dodged the other pedestrians, but missed a step and collapsed onto the pavement. It wasn't long before Bobby, and surprisingly the other members of his gang, showed up and grabbed her. She wasn't really sure what they were trying to do because she didn't really know about the city, but it really hurt and it made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

But then she heard other footsteps and yelling and saw bright flashing yellow and green lights. Some police officers came and chased off the gang. She was still lying on the ground when a young officer came and helped her up.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I think so." she answered

"Okay, well we'll catch 'em, don't worry."

"Thanks," she said as he turned to leave.

_Well that was interesting, _she thought. There was a strange feeling in her pockets, as if something was missing. She gasped as she realized that in the confusion, Bobby and his stupid gang took all her money! _Great! Now what am I supposed to do??? _

She slumped over as she continued to walk down the street, starting to regret running away.

**Did you like it??? Sorry about the huge, gigantic flashback, I can just drone on and on about it. Okay, just to clear something up, I think I might have gotten the idea from another person on fanfiction, so if you've written a story that sounds like the flashback, then I'm really sorry and you can PM me and I'll take that part off and rewrite it or give you complete credit! I'm just not sure if someone else wrote that or if just thought that someone should write about it. But whatever! REVIEW!!! :O**


	6. The Ruby Slipper

**Yay!!! I'm updating more than I used to!!! Isn't it great??? :D Anyhoo, this doesn't have an actually a flashback but Artemis remembers things, so I guess it counts… I think. :P And in this chapter, she sings the song **_**I've Got You Under My Skin, **_**and I first got it from Michael Buble's version, so go ahead and look it up on youtube. I would put up a link, but I don't know how to do that… So enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: see chapter one**

Artemis meandered down the deserted street. It was already might and she was cold, broke, hungry, and worst of all, homesick. _I don't even care where Mom and Dad are from anymore. I just want to go home…_

As she began to see more and more buildings, she decided that maybe someone might give her something to eat. She walked into a nice little café with a 'Help Wanted' sign in the window.

"Hello!" the greeter said a little too excitedly. "Welcome to the Ruby Slipper!"

"Um, thanks."

"Oh my Oz! You look like you've been mugged or something! What happened?"

Artemis hadn't realized that she was still very much disheveled from her little mishap earlier.

"Well I guess I kind of was, I mean there were these guys and they were just…" she began.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Well go ahead and take a seat!" the greeter cut her off.

Artemis found a seat and looked around. It was small and cozy with the smell of freshly brewed coffee swirling in the air. It seemed to have an edgy, jazz club side to it in some sort of way, but she couldn't figure it out. There was a little stage with a microphone and, at the moment, a scruffy, old man with a guitar, his voice cracking as he attempted to sing. A series of boos rang out from the crowd and someone was even throwing a bagel at him.

She was slightly shocked and a little scared, but still too tired to do anything. She looked over to see a bald, sweaty man with a name tag biting his nails and pacing furiously. She could almost see his thoughts: _What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?_

Finally, the old man was done. As he walked off the stage while trying to dodge anther flying bagel, the sweaty man nervously went up on stage to speak.

"Hey! Let's give it up for Mr. Jenkins! Woohoo!" he tried, but there were still a number of boos. "Alright, so who wants to come up and perform? Let me warn you: if you don't volunteer, then we'll have to pick out someone random…"

Silence.

"Alright, fine. Well then how about…" his eyes sifted through the crowd. "… you!!!" he pointed to Artemis.

"Who, me? Oh, no I don't sing…" she said.

"Oh, that's alright! I'm sure you're better than most of us!" he said with a grin towards some of the people in the crowd.

"Well… okay."

_I don't even know that many songs! _she thought. _Besides a lullaby or two… or what Mom and Dad used to sing to each other… Oh I know!!!_

She whispered the song to the sweaty man, who she decided was the manager of the Ruby Slipper. He pushed the play button on the karaoke machine and Artemis grabbed the microphone, took a deep breath and began to sing…

_I've got you under my skin,_

_I've got you deep in the heart of me._

_You've so deep in my heart that you're really a part of me…_

Her voice was sweet, yet powerful, and full of emotion, just like her mother's. When she finished, the crowd burst into applause. The manager just stared at her in awe as she stepped off the stage.

"That was amazing!" he was finally able to say out of his daze.

"Really?"

"Yes! Where did you learn how to sing like that???"

"Well, I don't really sing that much, but my mom used to sing that to my dad when I was little and I would mimic her voice exactly so maybe that's where I got it from."

"Huh… interesting…" he said as he scratched his stubble. "You don't happen to have a job somewhere, do you?"

"Uh, no. Why?"

"Well maybe you could work here for a little while."

"Oh, just a waitress and maybe singing every now and then." _To bring in more customers…_ he thought.

"Well I don't live in the City and I'm broke so I can't afford an apartment…" Artemis started.

"You could stay upstairs!" the greeter butted in. "It's actually pretty clean and it was bought with the café, so if Mr. Franklin will let you, then you should be fine!" she gave them both a huge grin, then skipped off to go eavesdrop on somebody else's conversation.

"I didn't even think about upstairs!" Mr. Franklin said. "Well? What do ya say?"

"… Okay fine," Artemis agreed. And so began her life in the City of Emeralds.

**Did you like it? Did you hate it? Blah, blah, blah… Just REVIEW!!! :D**


	7. Searches and Meetings

**Hi! Thanks for being so patient in waiting for this chapter! It's filled with fluff and meetings and all that good stuff. And I FINALLY get back to Elphaba and Fiyero freaking out about their daughter. And there's another Michael Buble song in here called "Quando, Quando, Quando" that's actually a duet with Nelly Furtado, so go look it up.**

**So there's a new character who I named after my favorite person on fanfiction, FabalaTiggular (aka: Sammy). Congrats on your character Fabala who probably looks nothing like you! :D**

**Oh, and if there's something that doesn't make sense, then just tell me in the review because I have a feeling that there might be a lot of typos in here… but besides that, enjoy!**

**Warning: I have YET AGAIN had to describe Artemis because she has YET ANOTHER guy who notices her. So don't get annoyed, cuz I've warned you.**

**Disclaimer: see chapter one**

Elphaba couldn't sleep that night. She couldn't eat either. How could she? Her only child was missing! Fiyero tried to calm her down, but as we all know, it's almost impossible to calm a worried mother.

"Do you think something has happened to her? What if she's been mugged or something? You know how rough the City is! Oh, what are we going to do?"

"Fae. You have to calm down…" Fiyero said in his most soothing, comforting voice while taking her in his arms.

"I CAN'T CALM DOWN!!! HOW CAN I CALM DOWN??? OUR BABY IS MISSING!!!" she finally shrieked as tears streamed down her cheeks, but Fiyero just held her tighter. She clenched his shirt and let the tears flow. Soon all of the tears had already been shed and she just stood there, shivering with fear in her husband's arms.

She awoke in the middle of the night. She had cried herself to sleep and Fiyero had laid her on the bed. _I have to find her,_ she thought. _I don't care how long it takes or where I have to go. I'm going to find her._

And with that, she crept to the closet and pulled the clothes on the hangers to reveal a large chest. She dusted off the top and unlatched the buckles. Once opened, it showed a black cloak, a large, thick, ancient-looking book, a broom, a black pointed hat, and several articles:

"_Wicked Witch On The Run", "Witch Crashes Engagement Ball", "Witch Killed By Little Girl"_

Elphaba flinched at the titles, but kept moving. She grabbed the cloak, broom, and reluctantly, the hat. It wasn't long before she was out the door and rising into the sky.

* * *

It was a pretty good crowd for a Friday morning. Artemis liked it that way, too. If there were too many people, she would be way too busy, but if there weren't enough, then there would be that awkward silence building up. But now, there was only the quiet rustling of newspaper, the droning hum of the coffee machines, and the soft murmuring of quiet conversations.

"Hey! What's up?" a familiar voice squealed from behind her. Sammy walked around to face Artemis, well more look up to her. Sammy was half Munchkin, so she was pretty short, but not dwarfish. Somehow, she had managed to get a job as a greeter at the café, due to her over-happiness. She had short, brown hair, big green eyes and was peppy enough to drive anyone insane. She reminded Artemis of a little puppy.

"Oh, nothing much. Just a little sleepy." Artemis responded.

"Well… you think you could sing that song I like?" Sammy asked with a hopeful grin.

"Aww, Sammy! But I always sing that!"

"Pweeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzz???"

Artemis sighed. "Alright, fine!"

She got up from her chair to the karaoke machine and picked out Sammy's favorite song. Once she got it, she grabbed the microphone and took a deep breath, a habit she had developed in her four weeks working at the Ruby Slipper.

_Tell me when will you be mine?_

_Tell me__ quando__, quando, quando?_

_We could share a love divine._

_Oh, my love, please tell me, when?..._

As always, the audience was entranced. People came in from the sidewalks to hear her, including a young couple…

-----------------

"Where are we going?" Ben groaned.

Katie scoffed. "Just be patient! I was the most adorable little café last night, and they had this amazing singing waitress girl! I mean, she's, like, legit amazing!"

They walked a little more, but then Ben heard the most beautiful noise. It sounded like an angel. _Am I dead?_ he thought. He had to be. Nothing on this earth was that gorgeous.

They finally got to what Ben figured was the café.

" 'The Ruby Slipper'? That's a weird name," he mumbled. But he soon heard the voice again, but this time it was louder. Before, it was just barely a faint whisper, but now it was swirling in the air around him.

As they made their way into the café, he finally saw the angel with that angel's voice. He could hardly believe it, too. Not even an angel was that perfect. No, she was more of a goddess, but better. He bet Aphrodite herself would feel threatened.

She had a slim yet sturdy figure, long jet black hair, and amazingly, green skin. He didn't really think much of it when he was captive to her beauty. But what really caught him off guard was her eyes. They were large and dark brown, but they were piercing, yet sensitive, hurting, yet free-spirited. He had never seen eyes like that before. They flashed to him for a split-second, then looked away. Ben's heart skipped a beat when they did. _She probably thinks I'm a jerk… like every other guy in this city…_

----------------

When the song was over, there was uproarious applause, as usual. Artemis blushed slightly as she walked off the stage. The number of people in the room had multiplied at least five times more than before.

Sammy had on a wide, Cheshire cat grin. She spent the next half hour brimming with pride that she knew the girl with an angel's voice.

Meanwhile, across the room, Katie was trying to convince Ben to go with her to talk to the singing waitress.

"Come on, Benny!" she whined.

"Will you stop calling me that? And what's the point of talking to her?" he grumbled. _I'll probably babble like an idiot!"_

Soon, the puppy dog eyes came out, and the begging was becoming too much. They walked over to Artemis who was sitting at a table. Ben swallowed as they got closer to her.

"Hi!" Katie said in her friendliest voice.

"Um, hi," Artemis said, taken by surprise.

"I'm Katie, and this is my boyfriend, Ben. And you're, like, really good!"

"Oh, thanks"- she stopped when she was the person next to Katie. He was like anything she had ever seen before, even though she hadn't seen that many people yet. He looked big and strong with scruffy, dark brown hair and bright, blue eyes. He was looking around nervously, but his gaze soon wandered to her.

"Hi," she said, positive that her heart had stopped.

"Hi," he said back in a deep, trance-like voice.

"So, we were wondering if you wanted to get ice cream with us or something!" Katie interrupted.

"Huh? What? Oh! Umm… Sure?" Artemis agreed once she was snapped out of her trance.

_Oh boy, _Ben thought. _This should go well…_

**Did you like it, review, blah blah blah… You know the drill, right? Alright then REVIEW!!! :D**


	8. The Ice Cream Shop

**Hey peoples! I'm sick! Bah! *cough* :P I don't really get sick very often, but I am now, so I'll update more now. You're welcome. So there's a new character in this chapter. I kind of named him after one of my sister's friends who's a goober. He's funny though. Kay enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: see chapter one. Oz, this is getting annoying. Ugh.**

As they sauntered down the sidewalk, Ben couldn't help noticing how graceful Artemis was. She seemed to glide, unlike him, who shuffled and dragged his feet. Or even Katie who simply jumped and skipped along, blonde hair bouncing with her.

They finally stopped in front of a shop. Katie squealed when they walked in as she was all the different flavors of ice cream. It was only them and a guy behind the counter now.

"Hi! Hold on, I'll be with you in a minute," he said in a voice muffled by a cabinet. Once he stood up, Artemis got a better look at him. He was a few inches shorter than her with big blue eyes and short, slightly spiky hair. He had on a cute little beanie and an apron.

"Okay, what'll ya have?" he asked in a highish voice.

"Ladies first," Ben said quietly while looking at Artemis.

"Okay, um, I'll just have a scoop of chocolate," she said.

Ben turned to Katie, but she looked like she was still thinking. "Kay and I'll have two scoops of vanilla," he said.

Once they had their ice cream, they both turned to Katie. "Okay! I have made my decision! I want a triple scoop of chocolate with chocolate sauce, caramel, sprinkles, a scoop of caramel macchiato and _lots_ of GUMMY BEARS!!! Oh and I want it all in an extra-sugary cone and all in that order."

They just stared at her while the guy tried to get her order right. Katie just smiled a bubbly smile and licked her lips as the mountain of pure sugar grew higher and higher.

He finally finished and carefully handed her the cone. She inspected it for about five minutes before looking back at him with another bubbly smile.

"Wow! You're good!" she squealed.

"Um, thanks," he squeaked, his voice cracking a little.

It was only then that Artemis realized that he was shaking nervously and sweating like a pig. _Just a theory, _she thought sarcastically. _But I think he likes her._

"So what's your name?" Katie asked.

"Uh, Henry," he answered, his voice still cracking.

"Oh that's a cute name!" she said as she bopped his nose with her perfectly manicured finger. He shivered at her touch and giggled a little, which made Ben and Artemis snicker at him.

They walked over to a table started to eat their ice cream, except Katie, who wasn't really sure where to start, but eventually started to eat away at the sides, gummy bears and all. Henry had finished cleaning up and was walking out the door when Katie stopped him.

"Hey! Where are you going?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, um, well my shift is over," he stuttered.

"Well then come sit with us!"

"Oh, well I kinda have to…"

"Pweeeeez with mac and cheese?" she pleaded with enormous puppy dog eyes.

"Well… I guess a few minutes wouldn't hurt…"

"YAY!!!"

-------------------

"So Artemis, what do you do at that café?" Katie said, trying to spur conversation.

"Oh, you know, wait tables, wash dishes…"

"No, silly! I meant the singing!"

"Oh. Well I guess when I have nothing to do or when it gets too quiet in there, I'll just sing."

"So there's no, like, specific time?"

"Nope."

"Huh."

The silence grew very loud from there, until Ben broke it with something random. "So where are you from?"

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked.

"Ya know. Where did you live before this?"

"Oh! Um… I don't really know."

"What do you mean 'you don't really know?'?" Katie butted in. "You have to know where you came from!"

"Well, that's kind of what I've been trying to figure out."

She told then everything. About her life in the middle of somewhere, about the fake story, her running away, the guard, and getting the job at the café. She even told them about Bobby, which Ben did not particularly like.

"Wow." they said, almost in unison.

"Yeah. Wow. So I've told you my story, now you've got to tell me yours."

"I'll go first!" Katie squealed in an operatic tone.

"Well, my mother is Glinda the Good," she started, seeming very proud of that. "And I'm not really sure who my father is 'cause she's been divorced so many times!" she said, a little more peppy than needed.

"Really? How many times?" Artemis asked with a shocked look. She just couldn't grasp the thought of people separating after claiming that they love each other, even if it was for financial reasons, which this probably wasn't.

"Oh… thirty. Maybe thirty-one." Katie estimated.

They all stared at her. Not even Ben knew about that small little detail.

"What??? She's just having trouble finding a nice guy, that's all!" she whined.

"Okay, aside from that, what's your story?" Artemis asked.

"Well I used to live with her in the Upper Uplands, but she sent me here because her… _one, two, three, four, five... _seventeenth husband was abusive and she didn't want me to get hurt, so here I am!" she finally finished.

"Katie, that's awful! Don't you miss her?" Artemis wondered.

"Yeah, sometimes. But she sends me letters all the time, so it's okay. Well recently she's been depressed about a friend of hers who died, I think…" her voice trailed off.

"Aw. I'm sorry. Well maybe Ben should go now." Artemis suggested.

"Alright. Well my parents weren't really that important at first, but about twenty years ago, the only heir to the Vinkun throne died or something and my dad got a little power hungry because he was a politician and he took it, so technically, I'm a prince." he bragged a little. "But I think the heir's name was like Fuego or Figaro or…"

"Fiyero?" Artemis cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah! Fiyero Tigger, Tickle…"

"Tiggular?"

"Yeah! Wait, how do you know that?" he asked suspiciously.

"Um, lucky guess," she lied.

"Okay! Henry's turn!" Katie squealed.

The three turned to the half-munchkin, who was still sweating nervously. "Um, well I, uh, have to, um, uh…" he stuttered before bursting out the door. They all stared, but were thinking the same thing: _What's he hiding?_

**Ooohhh!!! Suspense sort of!!! Well there's a reason to Ben guessing those weird names for Fiyero. My fish's name is Fuego 'cause he's a beta and bright read and my friend's dog's name is Figaro 'cause she really likes the band Queen and if you've heard **_**Bohemian Rhapsody**_**, then you should recognize it. And then Tigger for Tigger in Winnie the Pooh 'cause everyone loves Tigger! XD. And my friend was reading a story once and her mom came by and saw Tiggular and she was like "Fiyero Tickle???" Hehe. Yeah. Okay review pleez wit mac an' cheese!**


	9. The Right Thing

**Alright this one is sort of short… okay really short. And I'm still sick so at least I'm updating at all! Yeah! So be grateful, wenches! Huzzah! Okay I'm done. I'm just SO bored. Yeah. So now you get to find out why Henry was spazzing out. Woohoo.**

**Okay I HAVE to thank FabalaTiggular for being so into this story and PMing me 24/7 on "WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT??? I NEED TO KNOW!!!" Haha but it's alright, Fabala. It makes me feel like someone actually CARES about what's going on in the story… Ehem. Other people who didn't do that, that means you… *evil glare thing* 0_o Okay I'm done.**

**Disclaimer: see chapter one**

"Well, that was interesting, but I think I've had enough weirdness for one day," Ben said as he stood up.

"Um, yeah. And I think I just wasted my lunch hour," Artemis complained. She picked up her spoon and threw it in the trash can. Katie was still staring at the door until Ben started to leave.

"Huh? Hey! Where are you going, Benny?" she whined as she scampered after him. Ben flinched at his nickname, but kept walking out the door. He could almost feel Artemis laughing at him. In fact, she _was_ laughing at him. He would have been mad at anyone else for laughing, but no one had a laugh like her, or at least that was his opinion. It was almost as beautiful as her singing. It was soft and sweet, but still somewhat sad. Like an angel crying.

* * *

He sprinted down the sidewalk, trying to dodge pedestrians. He was late. Very late. He was really going to get it today…

He finally got to alleyway. He looked back and forth cautiously to make sure no one saw him. He tapped on the wall twice and suddenly a brick disappeared and in its place were two beady eyes.

"Password?" a voice asked.

"Munchkinland," Henry answered, out of breath.

"You're late," the guard pointed out as a door appeared from the bricks and was opened.

"Yeah, I know," Henry sighed. He made his way up a small, winding staircase until he came to another door just tall enough for himself.

He went through and shut it quietly behind him. He was now in the Grand Hallway of the Emerald City Palace. He tapped quietly on the enormous throne room doors.

"PROCEED!!!" a giant voice boomed from inside. Henry poked his head in, then his whole body and shut the twelve-foot door behind him. He shuffled quickly to the giant throne, its contents obviously being a giant head. There was a squeaking noise from behind it, and then the head shut down.

Footsteps were coming nearer to him with a metal clang. Soon his father appeared, his cold, metal eyes glaring at him. He slowly approached Henry, his tin feet stamping the floor with each step.

"You are late, Henry," he scowled.

"Y-yes. I-I know. I'm sorry, Father," Henry stuttered.

"Where were you?" Boq demanded.

"Well, I met some people and we hung out a little, that's all," Henry squeaked.

"IS THAT MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR FUTURE, BOY???" Boq roared.

Henry shrunk back in fear of his father. "N-no, sir!"

Boq huffed, but proceeded to his throne. Henry quickly took his seat on the cold, hard ground.

"Well. Shall we start your lesson?" Boq asked.

"Y-yes, sir," Henry shivered, partially out of fear, and partially out of the fact that Boq could never feel how cold it really was in there, and no one ever had the guts to tell him.

"Now for history," Boq began. "I think it's time I told you about… the Witch."

"Witch?" Henry asked, slightly intrigued.

"Yes. Seventeen years ago, Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West, was causing major havoc throughout Oz. She terrorized its citizens _and_ she was the one who turned me into this… this… abomination! Her green skin was a symbol of her twisted nature! She was finally brought to justice and killed."

"Wow," Henry admitted.

"Yes. So as future ruler of Oz you must keep an alert eye out for anyone or anything wicked, and when the time comes for action, you MUST do the right thing."

Henry finally walked up the last flights of stairs to the attic, his room. He coughed at the dust from old boxes of letters and linen. _Do the right thing? _he thought. _How do I know what right means?_

**Well? I know you guys were just DYING to know who Henry's parents were. But don't freak out about his mom, she isn't anyone important. So don't PM me being all like "OMG IS IT NESSA???" cuz it isn't. No offense to the people who did that already but I don't want to respond to a billion PMs asking the same thing. Not that you guys care… :'( REVIEW PWEEZ WITH MAC AN' CHEESE??? :D**


	10. The Nightmare

**Hi people! I'm really sorry that I haven't been updating… at all. But I was spending time with my cousins for Christmas (er Lurinemas I guess), as I'm sure you all were doing… right??? 0_o But anyways…**

**So this chapter gets pretty violent, so if you don't want to read it, then just don't read the dream part (the part in italics). Yeah congrats to the people who like Artemis's epiphany things, because Elphaba has a dream… but a very disturbing dream… so I'm just giving you guys a fair warning!**

**Disclaimer: see chapter one**

Elphaba sank behind a large oak tree, tears welling up and burning under her eyes. She sighed and lifted her head up to the sky. _What am I doing?_ she thought. _She's probably lying dead in a gutter somewhere in the City. What's the point of looking for her now? _She closed her eyes to keep the tears from falling but soon fell asleep, only to dream a terrible dream…

* * *

_The sky was clear. She squinted to see that she was lying down in very small valley just outside of the Emerald City. She could feel something on her hand and she turned to see that it was her husband. He grinned his perfect grin and brushed a lock of her jet black hair from her face._

"_I missed you, Fae," he whispered in a strange echoing voice and tenderly kissed her on the cheek. She couldn't help cracking a smile and smoothed back his scruffy, dark brown hair._

"_I missed you too, Yero," she whispered back. He held her in his arms until they heard another voice._

"_Mom?" it said faintly. "Dad?"_

"_Artemis?" Elphaba answered cautiously. She turned to see her daughter walking into the valley. Elphaba stumbled to her and held her child, tears burning down her face._

"_Mom, I missed you," Artemis said as she wiped the tears from her mother's cheeks._

"_Oh, I missed you too, baby," Elphaba managed to say through her stinging tears. But then another voice was heard._

"_Artemis?" it called. Artemis whipped around with, first, a look of panic and fear, but it was replaced with love and compassion. She went back out of the valley and soon returned with a young man, about her age. He seemed confused when he looked around, but he kept Artemis near him. Artemis turned to her mother._

"_Mom, this is Ben," she said nervously._

"_H-hi," Ben said quietly._

"_Hi," Elphaba responded, starting to realize what was going on here. She tried to look him up and down, but soon figured that it wasn't up to her. As long as Artemis really loved him, then it didn't matter to her. But that didn't stop Fiyero._

"_Where did you meet my daughter?" he questioned suspiciously._

"_At the café that she works at," Ben answered almost automatically._

"_Do you have a job?"_

"_I'm an actor on Ozway, sir"_

"_Have you ever drunk excessively, smoked, or done drugs?"_

"_No, sir"_

"_Ever owned or used a gun?"_

"_No, sir" and so on._

_After more rapid fire questioning, Fiyero turned to his wife and daughter and nodded slowly. Artemis squealed a very Glinda/Katie-like squeal and ran into Ben's arms that were open and waiting for her._

_Elphaba laughed softly and went to her husband's arms, which were open and waiting for her too. The couples stayed in their embraces until it happened._

_Without warning, an entire army of Gale Forcers appeared over the edges of the valley, armed and ready._

"_Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a blood curdling voice asked. "A couple of Winkies?"_

_Fiyero flinched at the mocking term for his people. Ben and he began to clench their fists._

"_A pathetic teenage girl," the voice continued. Artemis began to shake and turn red._

"_And the Wicked Witch of the West," it said a little slower than before. "Haven't seen you since you melted away. I guess you 'miraculously survived', huh Elphie?"_

"_Who are you and what do you want from us?" Elphaba questioned._

"_Oh, Elphie, you should remember me! And what you did to me…" it said as a figure began to appear from the shadows that didn't seem to be there before._

"_G-Glinda?" Fiyero asked nervously._

"_What? NO!!! Do I really sound that much like a girl???" Boq screamed hysterically._

"_Well kind of…" Ben started to say._

"_Oh shut up! I didn't ask you!" Boq yelled._

"_Okay, Boq, what do you want?" Elphaba asked impatiently._

"_Oh, you should know what I want. I've wanted this since the day you turned me into this piece of scrap metal!" he shrieked. And with that, he raised a large, tin arm and pointed to the couples below him._

_In a frenzy, the soldiers poured down into the valley. Ben was almost immediately grabbed first and dragged away. Artemis screamed for him to come back, but she was soon being dragged away herself._

_Elphaba wasn't registering what was happening until Fiyero was pulled away from her. She finally looked around frantically, but she froze when she heard a gut wrenching scream next to her. She turned to see Ben lying on the ground with a knife in his chest. He wheezed and tried to get up but, but was stabbed again in the stomach by a young, gremlin-looking soldier with a twisted, sick grin on his face. Elphaba tried to scream or move or something, but she could only stare. Ben wheezed some more, trying to call for Artemis, but ended up staring up at the sky, dead._

_Elphaba looked around only to see the same thing happening to her daughter. Artemis shrieked as several swords went into her body at once, but was left on the ground, twitching. Elphaba ran to her, only to hear her weakly try to call for Ben. But she was with him soon._

_Elphaba finally understood what had happened and collapsed to the ground, burning in her own tears, losing her voice by screaming. The soldiers seemed to ignore her and ran away from an invisible force. As she rose from the ground, she saw the worst of all this. Fiyero was wheezing with a knife in his side, right in front of her. She ran to him, certain that he was still alive._

"_Fae?" he breathed heavily._

"_Yero, you have to get up," she said in denial, her voice beginning to quiver._

"_Fae," he sighed. "You know what?"_

"_What?" she asked, starting to accept what was going on._

"_I love you," he whispered before kissing her gently._

"_I love you too, Yero my hero," she whispered to him before laying his head back on the ground and smoothing back his scruffy hair one last time._

"_Aww, isn't that cute?" Boq mocked from behind her. But Elphaba couldn't take it anymore._

"_YOU EVIL PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A LIVING THING!!!" she shrieked._

"_Oh, but the thing is, I'm not a living thing, thanks to you! I'm just metal…… but you won't be a living thing for long…" he said with a disturbing look in his cold eyes._

_He pulled out a huge sword from behind his back and, before she knew what was happening again, Elphaba fell to the ground with the worst, sharp, cold, metal feeling in her stomach…_

She woke up screaming. She felt her stomach to make sure it was only a dream, or nightmare. It was early in the morning and fog was covering whatever was outside of the forest. But once the wind had blown some of it away, she gasped at what was there.

It was the valley. The valley from her nightmare. The valley where she and her family were slaughtered.

She wasn't sure what to do. She could see the Emerald City gates from where she was, but knew that it probably wouldn't be a very good idea to barge in there looking for her daughter. But then she remembered the Underground.

It was built by smugglers into the City. She had discovered it during her… "reign" as the Witch. But the entrance was through that very valley, and the fog still made it almost impossible to see. Still, she gathered her broom and started down into the valley, feeling a slight chill as she did.

**Well? For those of you brave enough to read the actually-not-that-gruesome nightmare, was it okay? This chapter was actually procrastination from my other story that I'm co-writing with FabalaTiggular. Sorry Fabala… but if you're curious, our account name is TiggularX2 (hehe. Get the name? Yeah…) Well… REVIEW!!! RAWR!!! 0_o**


	11. Reunions

**Hey people! Sorry I haven't updated in, well, forever, but I was grounded for a while and then I had really bad writer's block and a bunch of stuff like that. Ew. :P**

**Anyways, this is that happy/sad chapter that I've been working on for forever. So here it is! :D**

**Disclaimer: see chapter one**

Artemis was hanging up her apron when Ben came in. He explained that Katie was off shopping for something.

"And apparently, if we leave without her she'll beat the crap out of us," he finished, a little worried.

"Beat the crap out of us? Yeah, that sounds like something she would say," Artemis laughed. Ben tried to laugh too, but he was enchanted again. _Oh man, _he thought. _She even laughs like an angel. Sweet Lurine, how can one person be this perfect?..._

"Um… Ben? Hello?" Artemis waved he hand in front of his face.

"Huh? What? Oh! Oh, ah, uh sorry, hehe," he said nervously. He had developed a really bad habit over the last month of staring at her like an idiot, sometimes even drooling.

You would think that Artemis would notice something like that, but she, being the innocent, naïve, sweet little seventeen-year-old she was, didn't have a clue what was going on. Which was good for Ben. It was also good that it only happened when they were alone, when Katie got sucked into the never-ending black hole called the mall.

"So… What should we do now?" Artemis asked through the awkward silence.

"Umm…" Ben thought about it, then felt a rush of excitement. He looked at her with a smirk. "Let's get some ice cream!" _Now I can be alone with her even longer!_ He thought.

"But won't Katie 'beat the crap out of us'?" Artemis asked.

"So?" Ben answered. Artemis gave him a questioning look, the kind of look that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

_Oh gosh… If I say yes then I get to spend even __more__ time with him, but Katie might get suspicious… _Artemis thought. _But it's worth it, I guess._

"Alright. Let's go." she agreed.

* * *

Elphaba curled up against the wall of the sewer. Today seemed especially hopeless for some reason. She had been searching for Artemis in the Emerald City for a month now and was about to give up. _Alright, _she told herself. _If I can't_ _find her today… I'm just going to have to search the rest of Oz…_

Just then, she heard a familiar voice. It was squeaky and shrill and maybe a little too dramatic for the situation.

"But I want THAT dress-uhhh!!!" it whined. "Pweeeeeezzzz???"

"AAAHHHH!!! If I buy it foe yah, will yah leave me alone?" a deeper voice with a City accent growled.

"Yeeeeeeessss!!! Pweeeeeeeezzzzz!!!"

"FINE!!! YEESH!!!"

Elphaba chuckled a little and thought of her days back at Shiz with Fiyero and Glinda, or Galinda as she was back then. Suddenly she gasped.

"Glinda! It's Glinda! Oh my Oz!!!" she whispered to herself.

"Huh? Who said that?" the voice squeaked.

"Glinda?"

"Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhh? ARE YOU A GHOST??? LEAVE ME ALONE!!! WAAAAAHHHH!!!" she screamed.

"No I'm not a ghost," Elphaba whispered while rolling her eyes. "Just look down."

It wasn't long before she saw a pale little face looking down at her.

"E-Elphie?" she whispered.

"Hey what's up?" Elphaba said with a smile.

"OMIGOSH!!! HOW, I MEAN, WHAT, I MEAN… ELPHIE!!!" she squealed while somehow managing to climb down the ladder and squeezing all the air out of her friend.

"Hehe… Okay, Glinda? I can't… breathe…" Elphaba wheezed.

"Oh, heh, sorry," Glinda giggled. "But how are you, well, alive???"

Elphaba looked at her with a very annoyed look. "You really think water could melt me? I mean I might be allergic but it won't kill me!"

"Okay, okay! But you made it very believable, you know! So, what, have you just been, like, living underground this whole time?"

"Um, no, I'm actually, uh, well… married."

Glinda stared at her in disbelief. "MARRIED??? OH MY OZ, ELPHIE!!! THAT'S SO GREAT!!! WHO IS HE??? WHAT'S HIS NAME???"

"Well… it's Fiyero," Elphaba said with a nervous smile.

Glinda's bubbly grin faded. "Hehe, wait, what? Elphie… Fiyero's dead. He died a long time ago…"

"No he didn't, Glinda. I saved his life! He's alive! We live outside the western Oz border, near the Thousand Year's Grasslands."

"Do you expect me to believe you?" Glinda said with a skeptical look.

Elphaba gave her a famous eyebrow raise and said, "Have I ever lied?"

"Yeah, when… oh, no you didn't… well what about that time I… oh, no that was true too… well I can't think of it now, but I know you have lied at some point, Elphaba Thropp! Ooops… I mean Tiggular, heeheeheehee…"

But Elphaba wasn't listening. She knew she had lied. That's the whole reason she was in the City, sleeping in a sewer. Suddenly, she burst into tears.

"Omigosh, Elphie! What's wrong? What did I say?"

"You didn't say anything. It's just, I have lied before…"

"Well, no offense, but aren't you overreacting to a little lie?"

"No! It wasn't little! I've been lying to my daughter her whole life, and now she wants to know the truth, so she ran away! My baby ran away! She keeps trying to say she's not a baby anymore, and maybe she's not, but even seventeen is still a little girl to me! And now I have to find her before she gets herself killed because she's just a little girl!!!" Elphaba screamed.

"Oh, Elphie! It's okay!" Glinda said as she gave her best friend a hug.

"No it's not! It's all my fault!"

"Elphie, you have to pull yourself together! I mean I haven't seen you this broken up since Nessa died!"

"I know. And I can't stand to loose more family."

"Well speaking of family, I was going back to my home in the Gilikin. Why don't you come with me? Actually, you're coming with me whether you want to or not! This is absolutely NO way to live!" she squeaked while dragging her up the ladder.

"But Glinda, I-" Elphaba started.

"No! You're coming! Now gather your things and let's go!"

Elphaba sighed as she hid her face with the hood of the cloak and followed Glinda out of the gutter…

---------------

Ben couldn't keep his eyes off Artemis. He had barely touched his ice cream. He didn't even notice Henry shaking and sweating nervously, though Katie wasn't there.

"…Ben? Are you listening to me?" Artemis asked.

"Huh? Oh, hehe, sorry. What?" Ben stuttered while wiping the drool from his chin. Again.

Artemis scoffed. "What's with you? Why are you so spacey?"

"I don't know, I'm just… thinking, I guess," he explained.

"Heh, sure. What could you possibly be thinking about that you have to be spacing out every other second???"

Ben bit his lip. This was the perfect moment since they were alone, so he decided to go for it.

"You."

Artemis could feel her heart skip about ten beats. Did he just say what she thought he said? "M-me?" she asked, starting to turn an even darker green.

"Uh, Artemis?" he started, mustering all the courage he could find. "I love-"

Suddenly, five Gale Forcers burst through the door, their guns pointed at Artemis.

"Stand up!" one yelled.

"Wait, what's going on?" Ben asked, frantically looking at the guards, then at Henry, who was shaking and sweating furiously now.

"I said STAND UP!!!" the guard yelled impatiently. Artemis and Ben obeyed, through still shaken by the quick, and loud, entrance of the men.

"What did we do?" Artemis whimpered.

The guard looked at her, then at Ben. "He's free to go," he finally bellowed. "But you have to come with us."

"What? Why?" Ben and Artemis said at the same time.

The guard walked over to Henry. "Good work, boy. You are sure to make an excellent Wizard some day."

"What? Henry, what is he talking about?" Ben asked.

Henry took a deep breath and puffed out his chest as majestically as he could in his striped apron and beanie.

"I am the son of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. And my father has informed me on some history facts that might surprise you, Artemis!" he said with a very Boq-like sneer.

"Like what?" Artemis asked with a very Elphaba-like eyebrow raise.

"Well, we hae reason to believe that your mother is the Wicked Witch of the West!"

"Who?"

"You know, she's green and ugly and has creepy magic powers."

"Okay that describes my mom except for the ugly part, because I look exactly like her… unless you think I'm ugly… then that's another story…

_Hah! Like someone would think you're ugly… _Ben thought.

"Well you're the only other green person I've seen, so for now, I'm placing you under arrest!"

"For what???"

"For crimes that you're mother has committed."

"WHAT??? WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ME???"

"You're under arrest until we track her down. And besides… we don't want another Witch running around Oz again, do we?" Henry sneered again, then, with the wave of his hand, sent the Gale Forcers off with Artemis, and Ben screaming for her to come back.

**So… yeah I hope you liked it. The next chapter might be a little more depressing… maybe. But one thing that isn't depressing… that's****right! Reviewing! ;D**


	12. Not So Lonely Anymore

**Hey guys, what's going on? You guys probably thought I died, right? Hehe WRONG! O_o But anyways, I've busy with a lot of stuff such as orchestra auditions (which i did not make :P), finals (which actually weren't that bad), aaaaaaand a bunch 'o' other stuff. Sooooo... here's the next chapter that you guys have been dying to read... I hope... :P**

**So since I haven't been writing for like 3 months, don't get all like "Nyah! Artemis? Why does this chapter stink more than usual?" So yeah... well here it is! :D**

**PS: 'Nother one of Artemis's not-so-famous naming chapters! :D So you meet a pretty awesome charatcer (according to me) named after my fanfic buddy lizziemagic. Hehe guess what the character's name is. That's right: ... Jimmy... jk. ;) K. NOW here it is... promise... :)**

**Disclaimer: see chapter 1**

Ben slammed his fist on the table in fury. "YOU LYING LITTLE-"

"Hey watch it! There are kids around here..." Henry joked.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Ben screamed back. "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO ARREST PEOPLE OFF THE STREET?"

"I'll be the Wizard some day. I need to practice doing the right thing."

"So the right thing is to arrest people for no reason?"

"IT'S TO KEEP THE PEACE AND TO NOT LET PEOPLE LIKE HER TO DISTURB IT!" Henry suddenly yelled.

"What did she ever do to you?"

"You heard what she said! She's EXACTLY like her mother, the Wicked Witch!"

"Henry, I don't think she meant it like tha-" Ben tried to calm down.

"I CAN'T TAKE ANY CHANCES!"

Ben sighed. "You might want to think about the difference between right and wrong..."

They were approaching ahuge dark building, possibly the only non-green building in the Emerald City. The guards were carrying/dragging Artemis into the massive doors.

"Hey, let me go! Come on! I didn't do anything!" she yelled.

"Sorry, but we're trained to follow orders," said a young soldier regretfully. They had entered a room that Artemis figured was some sort of office. There was a large, balding man with beady eyes sitting at the desk. He looked over his tiny spectacles at them.

"So," he said in a grisly voice. "This is the second generation of wickedness?"

"For the last time, I didn't do anything!" Artemis screamed in frustration. "Henry's insane! He just called these guards and-" the man slapped her across the face with a huge, wart-covered hand. A streak of blood slowly crawled down her cheek. She just stood there with her mouth wide open in shock.

"You will speak when spoken to!" the man growled. Artemis wasn't really sure what to think. It was like everyone in this place was oblivious to the modern world outside.

The man continued. "As you might know, you are to stay here until _the Witch_ is located. We have been secretly tracking her for the past 18 years, and I believe we know where she is hiding."

"Where would that be?" Artemis asked, anticipating another slap to the face. But the man was too proud of his false knowledge to resist.

"Far north. Way past the Gilikin in a small warehouse. How she could live there alone for so long seems inhuman, but then again, I hardly believe she is a human at all!"

Artemis clenched her fists and glared at the man, but to comfort that they weren't even close to finding Elphaba.

"Where should we put her, Warden?" asked a husky soldier who was holding Artemis by the arm.

The man looked her up and down, then made a decision. "Place her in the West wing," he said, then winked at her. She could feel her entire body shudder. The husky soldier and young soldier took her out of the office and down a never-ending corridor past thousands of cells. As they past them, the prisoners suddenly sprang from their fetal positions to jam their grubby faces against the cell bars, begging to be let out. Artemis could tell that this was the point of no return for her. She hung her head and let the soldiers just half-drag her the rest of the way. They finally stopped at the very end of the corridor.

"Well, this is your cell. John will come by later with some meal," said the husky soldier while nodding his head toward the younger one. They both filed out of the cell slammed the iron door shut behind them.

Artemis stared at the door. She couldn't believe this had all happened. Not just her being in prison, but her running away, getting a job, making friends, THEN being thrown in prison. She shivered as she layed her head down on the cold stone floor. She soon fell into a cold, uncomfortable sleep...

There was a tapping sound. Artemis woke with a start from the noise. Something was under the floor. It tapped again and again until a stone began to move. The sound grew louder and more stones began to move upward and Artemis lept up and shoved herself into a corner. The stones kept moving until a hand covered in dust shot up from underneath. Artemis let out an ear-piercing scream and clawed at the wall as the hand came up to reveal an arm, then a shoulder. Suddenly a head popped out, dusty and confused.

"Oh ello!" the newly sprouted head said cheerfully. "Sorry 'bout this mess. I been tryin' t' bust out of heah for the pahst," she stopped to count on her grubby fingers. "... well I dunno but a reallay long toime!"

Artemis just stared at first, but soon became curious. "Wh-what accent is that?"

"Oh, it's English!"

"What's English?"

"Don't worry about it. England's in a different world."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, fine, it's just very, very, very, very, very, very, VERY fah away."

"Umm... okay?"

The woman pulled herself out of the hole and leaned against the wall in exhaustion. She let out a dramatic sigh and looked at Artemis.

"So whot ah you in heah for?" she asked.

"Well, nothing really. They just kind of threw me in here without a trial or anything!" Artemis complained.

"Haha! Small wuhld! I don't think anyone in this bloody prison did anything in the fuhst place..."

"Huh..."

There was a long awkward silence between them for a while. "So... What's your name?" Artemis asked.

"Lizzie. You?"

"Artemis."

"Whoa. That's a pretty bad ahss name..."

"Hehe, thanks," Artemis said, surprised at the compliment.

"So, wheah ya from?"

Artmeis sighed and began here story, yet again, from her runniing away. But Lizzie stopped her at Elphaba's being a witch.

"Wait... you know sorcery?"

"well, no not really..." Lizzie started to stare into space with a strange smile on her face for what seemed like forever. She suddenly jumped up with a full grin.

"Ya know what, Ahhhhtemis?" she said energetically. "I'm gonna teach you everything I know. But you gotta promise that you'll help me get outta heah. Deal?" she stuck out her grubby hand.

Artemis hesitated, but realizing that there wasn't anything else to do, she nodded and shook her hand.

"Alright!" she said. "Weah in business!"

***WEEEEEEZZZ* so how'd ya like that long winded chapter (meaning it took me forever to write)? :] Sorry if you could't understand Lizzie with her British accent (and sorry if you're British and I totally screwed up you're accent...) :[**

**Well the next chapter probably won't take as long... I hope... Well that review hasn't been pushed in AAAAAAGES cuz I haven't been updating, so no one's been reading my stories, blah blah blah... Long story short: PUSH THE BUTTON! NOOOOOWWWZZZZ! O_o**


	13. The Escape

**Hey guys! So I'm gonna actually write another chapter! Woohoo! :D Aren't you proud of me? :] So this one starts something tooootally scandilicious! Ahhh!... and some other stuff. :P**

**Oh by the way, if ANY of you guys have read/seen the Count of Monte Cristo, this is what I'm referring to with Lizzie and Artemis (as Edmond and the Priest), kay? (if you don't know, then look it up). Also I'm gonna take a little slice 'o' Harry Potter Pie! ;D If you hadn't noticed before Lizzie is British. So I decided that she went to Hogwarts around Harry's time. Kay enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer: see chapter one (also I don't own Count of MC… or Harry Potter. Damnit. :P)**

Elphaba gasped for breath when they arrived at Glinda's mansion. She had never flown in one of Glinda's bubbles before and now realized why.

"Sweet Oz, Glinda! There's no air in those things!" she complained.

"Oh you hush! It's not that bad! Besides, it's a great way to get around with all that traffic on the Yellow Brick Road!" Elphaba gave her a quizzical look.

"What traffic?"

"Oh!... never mind." Glinda whined. The giant diamond encrusted doors swung open as they approached them. Elphaba thought they looked exactly like the Emerald City doors, except with diamonds. She chuckled to herself. _Heh, Glinda always did like flare..._

They walked into a grand foyer with a huge chandelier dangling above them, somehow in the shape of a swan. Two enormous staircases paralleled each other on both sides of the hall. Everything seemed to be made of pink velvet, even the walls. Elphaba felt a little gag reflex in the back of her throat, but then remembered that this was Glinda's palace. When they were back at Shiz, she always dreamed about the day when she would build herself a palace made all out of pink.

"Well here we are! Home sweet home!" Glinda chirped. "Why don't you go upstairs and get settled, and _then_ we can talk."

"Ohhh. Strategizing now, are we?" Elphaba said sarcastically.

"Teehee! Yeah I am!" Glinda squealed. Elphaba rolled her eyes, but laughed. It was a long time since she had been around Glinda's oblivious cluelessness, and frankly, it was what she had missed the most.

She walked up the velvet stairs and tried to figure out where Glinda meant for her to go. Quietly, she slipped in and out of bathrooms, kitchens, and huge, random closets while trying to find a bedroom. She turned a corner and saw a promising door at the end of the hallway. She opened the door pretty wide, figuring that there was a one in a million chance that anyone would be in this specific room out of the entire mansion.

But when she opened the door, she quickly closed it again. She had seen someone in the bed, or rather two people in the bed. Glinda had told her about her new-ish husband, Sir Tricheur on their way to the castle and had mentioned that he never seemed to be around enough, but dismissed it and said he was simply busy. _Oi. I'm too stressed out to be caught up in all this drama. I'll just tell Glinda and stay out of it._

Finally, she found a bedroom that wasn't totally covered with fluff. She sat on the bed and tried to be optimistic for once in thinking that Artemis was alright...

"Lumos!... Lumos!... LUMOS!" Artemis practiced the phrase in frustration while moving her hands in as fluid a motion as she could, but not a ray of light showed in the dark cell.

"No. Again." Lizzie said calmly. Artemis kicked the wall. "Why can't I start learning the cool stuff? Like stupefy? Or legilimens? That stuff is awesome! Why can't we-"

"Befoah you can even begin to staht actually learning real spells, you need to know the roite hahnd movements. Again."

Artemis rolled her eyes. Now she remembered what it was like with Elphaba as her teacher. Frustrating. But she kept trying the movement until she couldn't feel her arm anymore. But finally, she flicked her wrist and pointed her finger out the small, barred window, and suddenly, a burst of light flew from her finger and lit up the whole cell.

"NOX!" she yelled over the humming of the magic. The light slowly seemed to burn out and she stared at her own finger.

Lizzie chuckled. "Well, I guess we cahn take a break ahfter that one!" she said with a proud grin. They both sat down and leaned against the stone wall.

"...Wow... That was... Wow..." Artemis stuttered while still staring at her hand.

"Haha. Yeah, once you staht gettin' the hang of it, you don't wanna stohp, huh?"

"No way! But, since we're just sitting here, can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure."

"If you come from SO far away, then how do you know sorcery?"

Lizzie took in another dramatic sigh, which she tended to do when she was thinking about things. "Well I went to a school for witchcrahft and wizardry. Hehe, you know it's been so long that I cahn't remember its name. Hogpimples... Hogzits... Well something like that. I would've thought that magic would be different in otha' places, but I guess not..."

"Well it is different," Artemis said. "But we can still do it. It's like learning another language, I guess." Lizzie mumbled in agreement and stared out the window in content.

The night was dark. Not even the moon or stars were visible through the blackness. Lizzie kept watch as Artemis wore away at the bars of the window with magic. Finally the five low bars broke away and they began their escape.

The two had spent almost a month on Artemis's training, which, according to Lizzie, was probably record time for any wizard or witch to learn. They ate very little in order to fit through the small window once the bars had been broken, which paid off, as they both slid out perfectly. But it was the getting down that was the problem.

The prison was about 50 stories tall, and they were on the 32nd level. Artemis looked down and almost fell out of the window. It seemed to be a bottomless pit of darkness. She took a deep breath cast a spell on her hands and feet. Then they began their climb down into the darkness.

The spell had made their hands like suction cups and they slowly descended downwards. "… How much farther?" Artemis asked quietly after ten minutes of climbing.

"A lot," Lizzie answered. "Wait, stop! I hear something!" They froze in their tracks as two voices carried up to them.

"…Hah! Oh and did you hear that we captured the Wicked Witch's daughter?" one said to the other.

"Oh yeah! I did! Wow I can't believe she had a daughter… Hah I bet she put a spell on the guy or something!" Both voices laughed maniacally. Artemis tensed up and began to shake in anger. Lizzie looked up at her and shook her head. _Not now! _she mouthed. Artemis took another deep breath and continued down the wall.

Suddenly a siren began to scream. Guards yelled and scattered on the ground. A floodlight was turned on them and they both froze.

"Go!" Lizzie yelled. Artemis was so stricken with fear that she didn't hear.

"Wh-what?" she managed.

"GO!" A bright blue light shot from Lizzie's fingertip and Artemis began to slip down the wall. She braced herself to break her back on the concrete, but she landed on a pile of garbage bags. _Oh, I guess Lizzie did plan this out… _she thought. She looked up and saw guards pulling Lizzie off the wall from the nearby windows.

"Lizzie!" Artemis screamed upwards.

"GO! GO YOU BLAHSTED GUHL!" she yelled back.

Artemis turned around and looked for an opening in the wire gate somewhere, but someone was coming by. She buried herself in the garbage bags and felt a rising feeling. A mechanical whir drowned out the nearby yells. She realized that she was moving and poked her head slightly out of the pile. The prison seemed to be a dot, shrinking into the distance and Artemis felt a pang of guilt rush over her as she left Lizzie all alone to suffer for her.

"…I'm sorry…" she thought out loud. The garbage truck was beginning to slow down, so Artemis positioned herself and jumped silently off the edge. Her relief of freedom was crushed when she realized that she had no idea where she was. It had been a month since she had breathed in so much fresh air, but she almost wished that she was safely in her cell, instead of out in the darkness with images of Bobby and his gang lurking around every corner.

Her eyes began to water, but she quickly wiped them away. _No, _she thought. _I'll get myself out of this one. I'm not a little girl anymore… Am I? _She thought of her parents. _No I'm not… _she thought of her friends. Katie, Henry, Ben. _Oh Ben…_ she remembered the last time she saw him, his face so tensed and full of fear for her. She thought of what he was about to say to her. _Love? No. He couldn't love me… Could he? _She fell asleep in what seemed to be an alleyway with the thought of him swimming through her mind.

**Hooray for escapes! :D Boo for cheating! :P Oh speaking of that, when I was thinking of a name for Glinda's husband, I decided to make him French… guess what "Tricheur" means in French… yup, you guessed it: "Cheater"! XD Or "to cheat" I'm not really clear on specifics… :P Well I hope u liked that unusually long chapter. Soooo… REVIEW! ;D**


	14. Rebels

**Hey hey! I'm back already! :D Soooo… New character time! : Erica- named after one of my fanfiction buddies MissElphaba. (also she's supposed to be Bobby's older sister… teehee…) Danny- my friend's boyfriend(actually named Daniel) who acts exactly how this Danny does. Oi. :P And that's about it… So enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: see chapter 1(juice box)**

Artemis was awakened by an unfamiliar ray of sunlight across her face. She sat up against the wall and squinted against the sun that was high above her. The street by the alley was bustling with shiny, expensive cars and the sidewalks, full of pedestrians in their fancy new clothes. Artemis realized that she was still in her grubby, gray shirt and skirt that was thrown into her cell on her second day there to mark her as a prisoner. _Man… If I go out there in this, one of those sissies is bound to turn me in… _she thought.

But she had almost forgotten about the other end of the alley. It was so silent, that there might as well have been a wall there. The two sides were as different as night and day, and luckily, Artemis recognized the silent side. It was the slums of the City. It was even the same street as _The Ruby Slipper_. Artemis walked triumphantly onto the familiar street, but her smile faded when she approached the café, or where it used to be.

The building was locked up with the neon sign covered with wooden boards. She shook the handles of the doors and kicked them in frustration. She did not know where to go now. She had already underestimated the size of the City when she had arrived there, so there was no hope in trying to find the few people she knew in a city of thousands. She began to walk down the street when a chilling voice stopped her.

"Oh look guys!" it sneered. "Our friend's back! Let's welcome her home…"

Bobby and his gang appeared from the shadows and approached Artemis. They began to circle her like vultures.

"Leave me alone! I'm serious!" she said firmly, trying to stand her ground, but Bobby seemed to have gotten bigger since last time.

"Haha!" they all snickered at the same time. "Oh you're serious? Well we're serious too! Come on guys. Let's show her how serious we are…" Bobby said with a strange grin on his face. He grabbed her and shoved her to the guy across from him, who shoved her to the next guy, who shoved her to the next guy. Each shove seemed to be more painful than the first, and each time, Artemis became more angry. Finally, she decided that she had had enough.

She could tell that she would be propelled to Bobby again, but this time, she let herself be pushed and miraculously tackled Bobby to the ground. She felt a rush of pure anger and hatred rush over her and she began to beat him up as best she could. But when the rage had gone, she regretted what she had done. A gang member grabbed her by her hair and Bobby, who was staggering to remain conscious, was about punch her when an authoritative voice ripped through the air.

"HEY!" Bobby looked up and immediately tried to limp/crawl away.

"Hold on there a second, Juice Box!" it cautioned. The gang members began to giggle at their leader's nickname.

Bobby groaned. "What do you want, Erica? I'm kinda busy here!" he whined to the woman approaching him. Artemis looked up at her in admiration, not only because she was the first person besides the police who had ever stood up to him, but also because of how tough she looked in general: spiky, shoulder-length hair with purple streaks, black t-shirt, leather jacket, skinny jeans, and the tallest, most intimidating boots Artemis had seen in a while, almost as intimidating as her mother's.

"Listen, Juice Box, you and your little possy better stay off my turf or you'll have to deal with me. Got it?" she threatened.

"Ohhh! 'I'll have to deal with you', will I? And how are you gonna take on me, Ricky?" Bobby laughed. Erica suddenly grabbed him by his collar and lifted him a foot off the ground. Artemis and Bobby's gang stood there in amazement, considering Erica was about his height and not nearly as muscly.

"Wow, Bobby. I would have thought you would have learned something from ten years under the same roof and me having to beat your ass every day," she said quietly. "But then again, Dad always did like you better…" her voice trailed off as she slowly lowered him back down. The gang members mumbled in confusion.

"… What?" she yelled at them. "What are you all lookin' at? Go!"

The gang immediately began to stumble away with Bobby whimpering and struggling behind them. Artemis watched in awe as the big bad boys ran home in fear. She looked up and saw Erica with a satisfied look on her face.

"Well," she sighed. "I don't think you'll have to worry about them for a while." She began to walk away, but then whipped back around. She finally got a better look at Artemis and got a suspicious look. "What's your name?" she questioned.

"A-Artemis," Artemis struggled out, trying not to sound like the pansy she was. Erica approached her, boots pounding the asphalt with every step.

"… You wouldn't happen to be related to Elphaba, would you?" she said quietly. Artemis felt somewhat relieved, as this was the first time anyone had reffered to her mother by her first name in the city. She nodded slowly and Erica face lit up immediately.

"Hah! Damn girl! For a second I just thought you were some random green kid walkin' around!" she laughed as she helped Artemis to her feet. Artemis thought a while, but gave her a quizzical look anyways. Erica chuckled softly.

"No, I don't your mother. But I wish I'd met her. She's the only one who seemed to make sense in this crappy place…" her voice trailed off again. "Well since you seem to be on our side… Come on. Let's go."

"Go?" Artemis asked. "Go where? Who's side? Who's we? Wh-"

"Whoa whoa kid! Slow down! I'll explain everything later, okay?" Erica stopped her.

Artemis nodded and looked down in embarrassment. _Guess I'll be making some new friends… again…_ she thought to herself. They slowly, as Artemis now had a limp from the fall during her escape, made their way down the street. But they began to weave in and out of alley ways and soon came to a dead end.

"Umm… do you know where we are?" Artemis asked timidly, but Erica shushed her. She knocked a pattern on the wall and suddenly, a brick was taken away and big black eyes appeared.

"Who dares disturb my slumber?" a deep dark voice growled.

Erica rolled her eyes. "Shut up and open the damn door!" she yelled back. The deep voice was replaced with a high pitched giggle. The wall of bricks swung open as a newly shaped door. It revealed a dark tunnel that seemed to lead underground. A man arguing with a little girl appeared, but they both looked up to see Erica glaring at them with her hands on her hips. The girl immediately leaped down the stairs in the tunnel. The man stood up straight and smiled sheepishly at the two standing in the doorway.

"Heeeeeey. Whaaaaat's uuuuuup?" he said as he grinned.

"Yeah yeah whatever. This is important," Erica dissmissed him. "Because this," she motioned to Artemis. "-Is the daughter of Elphaba Thropp," she finished quietly. The man's eyes grew even bigger than they were and stared at Artemis. She looked around awkwardly, still wondering who these people were, but then wondered something else.

"Wait… Thropp?" she asked suddenly. Erica looked back at her.

"Yeah, Thropp. Unless she got married and we didn't know about it…" she said.

"Well, she did. My dad? He's Fiyero Tiggular," Artemis explained.

Erica looked down awkwardly. "Oh… uh… that's embarrassing…" she mumbled. "We've… uh… been saying Thropp for, like, the last 15 years…"

Artemis let out a soft giggle, but subdued it immediately in fear the Erica would glare at her. But she never did. The three finally made their way down the stairs, and after what Artemis figured was an eternity, they reached their destination.

It seemed to be a huge town center dug to be at least a hundred feet high and an uncountable amount of feet wide. Thousands of stalls and shacks were scattered about, but somehow formed paths between them. The three made their way to the back of the center to a tall, town hall- like building. The inside wasn't much, but there were benches and a platform for speaking. Erica sat Artemis down finally and sent the man out to get them something to eat which Artemis perked up to.

Throughout their long talk, Artemis found out many things: that Erica was the leader of these people, the revolters. The man's name was Danny and he was her finance (they would get married once the rebellion had happened and everything was peaceful.). They had been planning a revolt from the second Elphaba had gone missing (they didn't believe she had actually died.). The "Wizard" really had no magical power, but he was growing stronger and more oppressive every day.

Most of what Erica said, Artemis listened with little interest and did not think it would apply to her, but when Erica saw this, she began the story the Artemis had been longing to her: Who is Elphaba?

**Well that was shorter than I thought it would be… sorta… :P Poo. Anyways! Did you like it? Isn't Erica a total badass? Isn't Danny such a goober? Wasn't the ending epic? (well scratch that last question… :P) Anywho! XD Oh and btw, this underground "city" thing isn't supposed to be Southstairs. It's part of those tunnels that Elphaba used that were dug by smugglers… yeah that… but I guess you can imagine it as Southstairs if you wanna… :P …Well just go ahead and review already. XP **


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